Statement made by the apostle Paul sets before us an ideal worthy of imitation by every worker in God's cause: "I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air." Let each of us ask ourselves the question, What is my aim in life? Do I have a definite, worthy life purpose, or am I hitting at nothing in my program from day to day? God's purpose for His church, and especially for every regularly employed worker in His cause, is revealed in the following extract:
"In a special sense Seventh-day Adventists have been set in the world as watchmen and light bearers. To them has been entrusted the last warning for a perishing world. . . . They have been given a work of the most solemn import,—the proclamation of the first, second, and third angel's messages. There is no other work of so great importance. They are to allow nothing else to absorb their attention."—"Testimonies," Vol. IX, p. 19.
And to young workers especially comes this word of counsel: "In view of their high calling, the young among us should not seek for amusement or live for selfish gratification. The salvation of souls is to be the motive that inspires them to action."—"Gospel Workers," p. 67. As workers, do we have a real burden for souls resting upon our hearts ? If so, are we meeting with success in our efforts to win others for the Master ? It is said that "nothing succeeds like success," and it seems that so far as human qualifications are concerned, there is no one element more important or more necessary to success in any pursuit than that of definiteness. This is true in every walk of life, and it is recognized as a prerequisite quality in every man in the army of the world's workers.
Some men have been miserable failures in the Lord's work because of their lack of definiteness. Some have been dropped from the ranks of our workers because they have been unprofitable. No doubt there are many more still in the work who are not meeting with the success they should because of their indefiniteness. They talk fluently; they have pleasing personalities ; they preach good sermons. But they lack the ability to come to a definite point in their sermons, to turn their pastoral visits into definite results, and to bring people to definite decisions. To use a common expression, they "do not get down to brass tacks." Therefore they do not have large results in their work.
This does not apply to ministerial workers alone, but it touches every phase of our denominational endeavor. The need of the hour in the ministry, in our conference offices, in our publishing work, in the mission fields, in the medical work, in our educational work, in our church work, in the Missionary Volunteer society, and in fact everywhere, is for definite men and women to do a definite work in a definite way at a definite time.
As workers we should by prayer, careful study, and planning, endeavor to build this all-important element of definiteness into our lives and into our work. Then by precept and example we should lead the members of the churches into this same experience. Were all to do this, how different would be the results of our efforts throughout the year! How many there are who begin a good work, but lose out by the wayside because they lack the determination that would lead them to complete the undertaking. They have not been definite in their pursuits.
Every task that is worth undertaking is of sufficient importance to be completed. What satisfaction there is in any work well done ! Would it not be well for us individually to study carefully every feature of our work, to check our methods of procedure, to gather up any loose ends? And then, through a reconsecration of life and a definiteness of purpose, we can enter upon our work with a new courage, and a determination to gather a much larger fruitage in souls for the Master.
Let us, as workers for God, make Definiteness our motto. Let us labor to win a definite number of men and women to Christ, to spend a definite portion of each day in prayer and Bible study, to carry always a definite conviction of heart that ours is the work of God. Let us stop hitting at nothing, and rally as one man to accomplish the work God has planned for us.
